Materials such as sand, salt, grain, feed and the like, are often stored in bulk prior to being packaged in individual containers. For example, the bulk material may be initially stored in a pile from which a quantity of the bulk product is removed for placement into bag of a size that can be readily handled. The bags may then be transported to the location of their desired end use. A need exists for an apparatus that can rapidly and efficiently package materials that are stored in bulk.
The bagging of sand to form sandbags is one practical example of the need for the rapid packaging of a bulk material into containers. In emergency situations, such as impending flooding, the speed at which the sandbags are formed and put in place often impacts the success or failure of such efforts. Commonly, sandbags are formed manually by shoveling or scooping sand from a pile into a bag. When formed at the site of a potential flood area, the sandbags are then carried to a strategic location for final placement, such as to form a dam. Sometimes the sandbags are carried individually, and sometimes in emergency situations, the bags are passed along a human chain line from the sand pile to their final destination.
In any event, the process of manually filling the bags and carrying the sandbags from the sand pile to the point of strategic placement to form a dam is time consuming and labor intensive. Manual bagging efforts are slow, especially when filling a large number of sandbags as may be required in many situations. Moreover, such conventional efforts are inadequate when speed is of the utmost importance in attempting to preserve life and property in advance of impending flood conditions. Also, mobilization of a large crew of workers to form and transport the sandbags is not always possible, especially on short notice. Thus a need exists for an apparatus and method for rapidly forming individual sandbags from a bulk supply, and having those sandbags on hand in the location where they will provide the greatest protection against flooding.
One attempt to speed up the sand bagging process involves providing a relatively large receptacle mounted on a trailer. The receptacle is filled with sand from a sand pile. The sand can then be emptied by gravity out a bottom chute of the receptacle, while a bag is manually held open at the chute to fill the bag to form a sandbag. However, such apparatus is relatively expensive and has limited mobility. For example, since the apparatus is relatively large and needs to be pulled behind a vehicle, it is often unable to be maneuvered to remote locations of limited access, or to those locations that require travel over uneven terrain to be reached. Furthermore, such apparatus is solely dedicated to bagging purposes, and when not in use takes up a large amount of storage space.
Therefore a need exists for an apparatus and method for rapidly forming sandbags from a pile of sand and making the sandbags available at a remote site, that in many instances may be of limited and difficult access.